Home Prices Rise in U.S. Cities – Except Detroit

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Great news for homeowners nationwide, according to USA Today. Home prices in April slightly edged upward. In just about the entire country.

This could be the end of the real estate slump that has plauged the industry for several years and the beginning of good days ahead for homeowners.

Unless you live in Detroit, which saw a 3.6% average value decline. Detroit still struggles to get out of the slump.

It’s not all bad news, of course. The slight dip in prices in Detroit means more value for home buyers. Homes that are already priced well below national averages (think a 2,500 sq. ft. historic brick home with plaster walls, hardwood floors, craftsman design and leaded windows going for $75,000 or cheaper). Yes, you read that correctly. Houses are that cheap in the D.

Anyway, overall, this is very good news. Wanted to share with our readers. We all knew the days of lower values wouldn’t last forever. Nothing does. Prices had to rebound. It looks like that’s happening now. Here’s a little bit from USA Today: 

Home values rose in nearly all U.S. major cities — 18 of the top 20 — that the index follows, the bond-rating company said. The drop is far smaller than in the previous two months when year-over-year declines registered -2.9% and -2.6%.

Some economists may think the April gains reflect a shift in the market to include fewer distress sales, which typically command lower prices, Harris said. He thinks that’s incorrect, saying federal statistics that exclude most short sales and foreclosures have also risen for the last two months.

April home prices

Metro area	April 2012 index	Change from March	Change from April 2011
Atlanta	84.50	2.3%	-17.0%
Boston	147.19	0.9%	0.1%
Charlotte	111.19	1.6%	0.8%
Chicago	103.92	1.1%	-5.6%
Cleveland	96.85	2.3%	-1.3%
Dallas	116.46	1.7%	2.8%
Denver	125.75	1.7%	2.8%
Detroit	65.26	-3.6%	1.2%
Las Vegas	90.84	1.1%	-5.8%
L.A.	162.17	1.5%	-3.6%
Miami	141.33	0.4%	3.2%
Minneapolis	109.84	0.5%	3.8%
New York	157.74	0.1%	-3.8%
Phoenix	109.01	2.5%	8.6%
Portland	131.62	2.0%	-0.9%
San Diego	151.75	1.4%	-1.8%
San Fran.	130.21	3.4%	-1.4%
Seattle	133.84	2.0%	-1.0%
Tampa	127.46	1.9%	0.8%
Washington	181.30	2.8%	1.6%
The indexes have a base value of 100 in January 2000; so a current index of 150 translates to 50% appreciation since then for a typical home in the market. Source: S&P Indices, Fiserv

The report is one of the first upbeat signals about the housing market, which helped cause the nation’s recession from 2007 to 2009 and until recently has continued to be a drag on the broader economy. On Monday, the government said that new homes sales rose at the fastest pace in two years in May.

“With April 2012 data, we finally saw some rising home prices,” says David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Case-Shiller index committee at S&P Indices. ” … While one month does not make a trend, particularly during seasonally strong buying months, the combination of rising positive monthly index levels and improving annual returns is a good sign.

Read the full article here. Enjoy!